


Tear of Lycoris

by titaniaeli



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Cat Ears, Denial of Feelings, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Magical Accidents, Magical Artifacts, Neko Jellal, Other, Tragic Romance, not as tragic as you think
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-27
Updated: 2013-07-01
Packaged: 2017-12-16 08:55:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/860299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/titaniaeli/pseuds/titaniaeli
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was all Meredy's fault. Why couldn't she not touch that damn crystal?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"Meredy,  _no_!" But it was too late. Meredy looked up, looking like a deer in the headlights, her hand on the crimson crystal. She barely had time to react as the crystal started to glow. Jellal jumped forward, shielding her with his own body, just as the light encompassed the entire room.

Ultear's head jerked up as she felt the massive burst of magic coming from the other end of the mansion. Her breath caught in fear.  _Jellal and Meredy!_

She dropped the unconscious dark guild member and dashed off. She burst into the room Jellal and Meredy was investigating in, expecting to see the room destroyed. She paused in surprise as she took in the room. It was as untouched as any other rooms in the mansion.

There was a podium in the center of the room, looking extremely out of place in what seemed to be a study room. Sitting innocuously on the podium was a white, tear-shaped crystal on a navy blue cushion. And lying a few feet away from the podium was her two comrades.

"Meredy, Jellal!" she exclaimed, skidding to a stop beside the two bodies. Jellal was curled up slightly around Meredy in a protective manner, clutching her close to his chest. Meredy twitched slightly when she heard Ultear's voice, her eyes fluttering slightly.

"Ul?" she moaned, squinting up at her in disorientation. She squirmed out of Jellal's grip, rubbing her head. "W-What happened?"

Ultear smacked her out of her confusion. "That's  _my_  line! What happened here?"

"T-That crystal... when I touched it, it started to glow. And there was – was this light..." Meredy frowned, looking up at the podium. "Eh? W-Why is it white?"

"What do you mean?" Ultear asked in concern. She glanced down at the unconscious Jellal, dark hair scattered messily over his face. She brushed back his hair, biting her lip in worry.

"That crystal... it was red in colour, before... before it started glowing." Meredy whispered.

But Ultear wasn't really listening to her. She was staring at the pair of lumps on the top of Jellal's head, which she had originally mistook for his hair as it was the same colour. She touched them hesitantly, jaw dropping when it twitched in response. It was a... pair of  _cat ears_?

* * *

Erza sighed softly as her team entered the guild. Another ruined mission. This time, she couldn't even reprimand Natsu and Gray since she had contributed to the damages.

"Just the person I'm looking for. Erza!" Makarov said cheerfully, approaching her. "There's someone here you might like to see."

"What do you me..." she trailed off as she spotted the two women standing behind the Master. Meredy grinned sheepishly, waving at her. Standing next to her was Ultear, who smiled when their eyes met.

"Ultear? Meredy? What are you two doing here?" Lucy frowned, her eyes unconsciously flicking around for their third missing member.

"If you're looking for Jellal, he's in the infirmary." Ultear said, gesturing to the closed door behind her. Erza's suspicion rose at the mysterious smile on her face.

"Infirmary? He's not hurt, is he?" Natsu asked, looking alarmed. He blinked in confusion as Meredy giggled in response.

"No, no, he's not hurt. Well, not really. It's better if you go see him to understand what I mean." Ultear shrugged, hiding a smile.

Erza scowled even deeper. Just what was these two trying to hide? Just what's wrong with Jellal? She shoved Natsu aside and marched towards the infirmary. Without even bothering to knock, she threw the door open.

"Jellal?" she called out tentatively. The infirmary was actually just a small room with only two beds. Out of the two beds, the only one occupied was the furthest from the door, the one next to the window. Erza slowly approached the bed. The soft shuffling alerted her to Jellal's conscious state, but just why was he hiding under the blanket?

"Jellal?" she repeated, this time softer as she sat down slowly on the edge of the bed.

The figure moved slightly and she heard a very soft whisper coming from under the blanket. "Go away, Erza."

She twitched in irritation, but managed to stop herself in time from giving in to her short temper. She wasn't about to risk injuring Jellal any further just because she couldn't control her own temper.

"No," she answered. "What's going on, Jellal?"

Jellal seemed to curl in even more to himself. " _Go. Away._ "

Her anger melted away, replaced by an unnerving worry. "No, I'm  _not_ going away. Now,  _tell me what's wrong_!"

She grabbed what seemed to be Jellal's arm. Perhaps she has overestimated her strength, or perhaps Jellal was caught off guard, because she pulled him hard enough that he went toppling off the bed, dragging her down with him. She heard him hit the floor with a painful thud and tried to stop herself from landing on him. She threw out her hands, trying to halt her fall. Her knees hurt when they slammed against the floor, and if she hadn't been wearing gauntlets, her palms would definitely hurt as well.

"Ow." She winced. "Are you alright, Jellal–"

Her eyes widened in shock. Jellal turned bright red in embarrassment, avoiding her eyes. Erza had to rub her eyes a few times before she was sure she wasn't looking at a hallucination.

"A-Are those c-cat ears?" she stammered. Just as she mentioned it, one of the furry ears twitched. As if she was hypnotized, she took off her gauntlet and reached out to touch it. The fur in between her fingers was  _real._ And they were unexpectedly soft.

Just then, her idiotic team burst into the infirmary. Obviously, they were eavesdropping from the outside, judging from Lucy's guilty expression.

"Stop!" Jellal yelled, shoving her off him. "G-Get out!"

His pale cheeks were red from shame and he looked on the verge of breaking down. Taking pity on him, Erza turned to the three –  _four, actually, if you count Happy_ – standing at the doorway with shocked expressions.

" _Out._ " She commanded with a terrifying aura. Natsu and Gray turned white with fear and promptly ran out. Lucy's feet was frozen to the ground, and only with Happy's urgings, managed to move and closed the door behind her.

"Jellal?" the redhead called out, her voice becoming gentler. Jellal looked up, looking distressed and panicked. The long, slender, dark blue tail poking out from under his coat swung from side to side in agitation.

"E-Erza..." he whispered, sounding very miserable.

Her heart melted and she was beside him in an instant. While the situation might seem extremely adorable and funny, the look on Jellal's face was enough to eradicate any humour in her. She grabbed him and held him close to her chest. Jellal burrowed in her embrace, quivering slightly as she hummed in an off-key tune to calm him down.

* * *

"A long time ago, there lived a lord and his retainer. The lord's wife was a woman named Lycoris, and she was the most beautiful woman in the whole kingdom. But the lord was merely using her family's wealth and beauty, and subjected her to cruelties. She was forbidden to step out of her room and would cry helplessly each day. And the retainer would always go to her and wipe her tears away. Enchanted at first by her beauty, he eventually fell in love with her kindness. But a retainer and lady could never be together, because of their differing status. One day, the lord had grown tired of the lady and gave the order to kill her. His master's orders were absolute, but the retainer was unable to kill his most beloved. So they exchanged a promise. ' _We'll escape together. I will return to you the next time the sakura falls.'_ However, the lord found out about his retainer's betrayal and had him killed. The lady, unknowing of her lover's demise, waited. She waited without fail for her lover to come meet her. She waited, even as her hair greyed and her health diminished, and when she died, she died with a tear for her lover that never came. That tear formed into the red crystal known as the Tear of Lycoris." When Levy finally put down the book, her listening audience was silent with sorrow and grief for the couple in the story.

"That lord is a bastard." Natsu announced, glowering. "Where is he? I want to punch him!"

Lucy rolled her eyes and surreptitiously wiped the tears away from her eyes. "Don't be stupid, Natsu. He's just a character in the story, and even if he's real, he's probably already dead."

"From what it's written here," Levy interjected, frowning slightly as she continued skimming through the pages. "The Tear of Lycoris's magical proprieties are still rather mysterious, but researchers believe that the gem is able to lead its user to his destined path."

"And what has that got to do with Jellal having cat ears and tail?" Gray asked sceptically.

Levy closed the book, shrugging. "I don't know. The book didn't say much about how the Tear of Lycoris works, much less how to undo its magic."

"The crystal was red before, right?" Makarov inquired, picking up the gem. He lifted the crystal above his eyes, tilting it side to side. It was quite big, fitting perfectly in his palm, and when he closed his fist over the crystal, it felt curiously warm against his skin.

"Yes," Meredy nodded. "After I touched it, it started glowing before a bright light knocked me out. When I woke up, the crystal has turned colourless."

"Was Jellal touching the crystal?" Makarov asked, putting down the crystal.

Meredy shook her head. "No, he shielded me from the light instead."

"So it was the light that... well, turned Jellal." Lucy summarized shrewdly. "Levy-chan, you said that the crystal leads its user to his destined path, am I right? Maybe Jellal just needs to find his destiny to be able to revert back?"

"With cat ears and tail?" Happy interrupted, tilting his head to the side. Lucy flushed and deflated, sinking in her seat.

"Well, whatever the reason is, Jellal can't go out looking like that!" Ultear sighed. "It's bad enough that he's a fugitive, it'll be even harder for him to blend in with those ears on the top of his head!"

"But Jellal looks cute with them, doesn't he?" Meredy snickered.

Ultear gave her an exasperated look. "That's not the point!"

"For the time being, perhaps Jellal can stay with us?" Makarov interrupted gently. "After all, if you want me to fix the crystal, I need him near too to understand how the thing works."

"You'll allow him to stay?" Ultear asked, looking a tad relieved. "Thank you! I'll leave him in your care then, Master Makarov."

"Wait," Meredy suddenly spoke up. "If Jellal's staying, I want to stay too!"

She winced as Ultear whacked her upside the head. "Don't be ridiculous! We still need to track down those Ouroboros guys to find out where they got the crystal! Because of  _your_ carelessness, they managed to get away!"

She seized Meredy's ear and dragged her out of the guild, reprimanding her the entire way.

"Ultear... she's kind of scary, isn't she?" Lucy sweatdropped.

Makarov chuckled and stood up, picking up the crystal. "Well, I best get going. Perhaps Porlyusica might know a little bit more about the magic of this gem. I'll leave Jellal in your care, Erza."

"Y-Yes, Master." Erza replied. She watched the tiny, old mage walked out of the guild, the gem safe in his pocket. She looked back, staring at the ajar door of the infirmary.  _Now what?_


	2. Chapter 2

"Are you sure this is alright?" Jellal asked softly, gazing around her room. Her  _normal_ room, of course, not the other four rooms where she kept all her armours and weaponry in. "Isn't this the female dormitory?"

"It's fine." Erza answered, waving a hand carelessly at his direction. "Currently, I'm the matron of this dormitory. No one will say anything."

"Isn't this abusing your right?" he asked weakly.

Erza didn't even look up. "Did you say something?"

"N-No." Jellal winced, taking a wary step backwards. Erza continued clearing her stuffs, trying to tidy up her room. In his opinion though, Erza's room wasn't really messy. A bed by the window, a vanity table beside a solid oak wardrobe and a dark green leather couch in front of a mini coffee table.

"Here, you can take the bed." Erza announced, straightening up. "I will take the couch."

He blinked at her in astonishment. "I... I can't do that! The couch is enough for me."

"Well, I don't think it's enough. You're  _my_ guest, and I say you're taking the bed!" Erza growled, scowling impatiently at him. " _No arguing._ "

Jellal's mouth snapped shut in surprise, his tail unconsciously twining around his upper thigh. For some reason, he knew that if he continued to argue with her, she'll finally lose her temper and throw him out of the window or something. Even though he has never experienced Erza's infamously violent temper, he has witnessed it with Natsu and Gray, and he has no desire to have a taste of her beatings. Erza has been amazingly patient with him most of the time they were together, and he wanted to keep it that way.

"You should go to sleep. You looked exhausted." Erza remarked. "Have you not been sleeping well?"

 _Not really_ , he thought, but didn't say it out loud. He doesn't want Erza walloping him for not taking care of his own health. Between trying to stay clear of the Rune Knights' way, decimating dark guilds and trying to track down leads of Zeref's whereabouts, he hadn't had much time to rest. Even his rest time was sacrificed for watching over Ultear and Meredy. Sometimes, he felt that he's too much of a martyr.

"I-I'm just a little stressed." He lied. Understatement of the year, he thought.

Erza gave him a critical look. "Doesn't look like a little."

She strode forward and grasped his arm, hauling him over to the bed. Jellal followed without much resistance, too tired to protest. He wasn't aware he was that tired until he's in Erza's bed. He sank into the bed, closing his eyes and breathed in Erza's scent on the sheets. He peered up at the redhead as she busied herself with tucking him in. His cat ears twitched in embarrassment and he sank deeper under the blanket. Erza glanced over at him as she noticed the tiny movements. Distracted by the quivering furry blue ears, she reached out in an almost mesmerized manner. She ran her fingers through his hair, sliding them behind an ear. Jellal flushed as she started scratching behind his ear, but didn't stop her. It was only when he started purring did Erza noticed what she's doing. She froze, face turning as red as her hair.

"S-Sorry!" she squeaked. "I'll leave you to your rest now!"

She flung herself away from the bed, bowed several times before leaving the room hastily. Jellal watched her leave with a bemused and baffled expression, his tail thumping against the bed in irritation. Why did she stopped scratching his ear, damn it?

* * *

"So you left him alone, sleeping in  _your_ bed, who is, by the way, extremely vulnerable right now?" Evergreen exclaimed in disbelief. "Have all the battles make you a little stupid, Erza?"

"And what do you mean by that?" Erza demanded, face still red. She couldn't believe she was stroking Jellal like he was a damn  _cat,_ even if the new, extra appendages practically made him one.

"Think about it, you have Jellal Fernandes, who, despite being a fugitive, was one of Fiore's most eligible bachelors seven years ago. Sure, he was known as Siegrain at that time, but  _still_ , same person." Evergreen explained without a hint of shame. "And unlike these immature _children_  in Fairy Tail, Jellal is a  _man_. He's ridiculously handsome, and from what I heard from Natsu, he's almost as strong as you are, and ignoring the fact he's a fugitive, he's kind of the Master of his own guild, even if it's not technically legal."

She leaned forward, eyes shining with an almost insane gleam. "So my question is, why aren't you ravishing the hell out of him right now?"

"R-Ravishing?" Erza stuttered. Lucy fanned the redhead worriedly. Erza has always been naïve and clueless when it came to matters of the heart, while Evergreen was... not.

" _Yes_. Fucking, making love, molesting, whatever you want to call it!" Evergreen sighed in impatience, slamming her hands down on the table.

"Evergreen!" Lucy screeched, blushing at the older woman's crude language.

The bespectacled woman rolled her eyes at her. "Oh, don't be a bunch of prudes. Erza, if you like him, then snatch him up! He might be a criminal, but who knows how long will it be before someone else takes a fancy to him and catch his interest?"

"N-No way! That's imp–" Erza stopped short at Evergreen's smirk. She slumped in her seat, gnawing on her lip.  _Was it really impossible?_ She thought back to the first time she saw Jellal after he was taken away from her, to the conversation at the beach.

" _I can't... I have a fiancée."_ Jellal's excruciatingly sad eyes as he turned away, the lie slipping from his lips effortlessly. Even though she knew it was a lie, her heart felt like it was going to break at that time. Was it really impossible for Jellal to notice someone else?

"Stop hesitating. This isn't like you." Mirajane smiled knowingly at her. "You should start thinking for yourself. Just what do you want, Erza?"

"What... do I want?" she questioned, frowning. What does she want? Why was it that no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get rid of Jellal's face from her head?

* * *

Jellal could be incredibly stubborn when he wanted to, Erza realized. As she once again tried to yank Jellal away from the doorframe, she wondered how in the hell did Ultear handled him in the past seven years.

"You've been stuck in this room for  _days._  At least come to the guild!" she snapped. "Master still hadn't figure out how the Tear of Lycoris's magic works, so we have no idea how long you'll stay like this. You can't remain in this room forever!"

"It's not forever. It's just until these  _things_ are gone!" Jellal retorted, tail flicking fiercely.

Her grip loosened slightly as she glanced at his flattened ears and thrashing tail. Normally, she wouldn't be able to tell if Jellal's angry or not, but with his additional appendages, it was hard for him to conceal his feelings from her.

"They are cute." She said nonchalantly. Jellal's grip slackened in surprise and embarrassment, and she took the chance to haul him out of her dorm room.

"Now are we going to do this the hard way or the easy way?" she threatened. "It's either you walk on your own, or I'll carry you there by myself."

He winced as her grip on his arm tightened. He swore he felt his bone fractured under the force she's applying on his forearm.

"I... I'll walk." He faltered at her dark glare.

To his surprise, her dark expression cleared instantly. She  _beamed_  at him and let go of his arm. He immediately slid away from her, rubbing his abused arm absently.

"Let's go. Mira promised me my strawberry cake!" She grinned and enthusiastically pulled him along. Somehow, she looked uncharacteristically delighted. He shuddered slightly, tugging his hood up to hide his cat ears from the public.

"Erza..." the redhead felt Jellal jerked back as they came in front of the guild. She turned around curiously. Jellal wasn't even looking at her, eyes darting around nervously. He looked even more agitated than before, his dark-furred tail swinging violently in the air. If it wasn't for her hand on his, he'd have run away by now.

"Don't worry." She smiled. "I promise I'll beat up anyone who laughs at you."

He gave her a small, wan smile as she opened the door. As expected, everyone turned to look at her, or more specifically, at Jellal.

Jellal seemed to shrink back at the attention he's receiving. His ears twitched anxiously as everyone's eyes widened. The only ones who have fully seen his catlike appendages had been Makarov, Ultear, Meredy and Erza. Even Erza's team had only caught a passing glimpse of them. This was probably the first time anyone in the guild had seen him since the accident with the damn crystal.

"So... so cute!" he has no idea who had squealed that out, but when a little dark-haired child suddenly dashed towards him, she was followed by a crowd of cooing girls. He backed away in surprise, realizing faintly that his hood had mysteriously fallen off and was no longer hiding his ears.

"Erza!" he squawked, glancing back at her. She winked at him, sliding away surreptitiously. He glared at her in betrayal, just before he was glomped by Cana.

"Meredy was right. He really does look adorable with those ears." Mirajane tittered, placing a plate of strawberry cake in front of her. "You sure you're going to leave him like this?"

"What do you mean?" Erza scowled, not liking the sly grin on the pale-haired woman's face.

Mirajane laughed innocently, shaking her head. "You wouldn't want him to be  _snatch up_ , don't you?

Erza huffed, biting into her cake and very determined to not look at Jellal. The pale-haired mage's eyes gleamed at the trembling hands. Erza wore jealousy well. If only Jellal could see the look on the redhead's face right now...

"Hm, Cana seems to be having fun molesting Jellal." Mirajane teased. "I heard that Cana likes older men, but I suppose Jellal is old enough for her."

"Shut up, Mira!" she snapped in annoyance, finally turning around. The sight that met her eyes brought a small smile to her face.

Jellal looked extremely uncomfortable. She doubted he has ever been surrounded with that many women in his entire life. Levy, Lisanna and Lucy was playing with his tail, giggling and whispering to each other as the tail flicked in irritation to their pulling. Even Juvia was gingerly poking at one of his ears, jumping slightly when it twitched in response. Cana wasn't as reserved though. She was scratching his other ear, her other hand subtly groping the overwhelmed fugitive.

The day Jellal could sit in front of her, smiling that kind, gentle smile again was something she has never predicted. She wished this moment could last forever.  _But it won't_ , her heart whispered traitorously. The crystal would be fixed, Jellal would return to normal and then he'll just go back to what he has been doing before. He will leave.  _Again._

" _Just what do you want, Erza?"_

* * *

"The women of Fairy Tail are scary." Jellal muttered. "I think they ripped off some of my fur."

He winced as he rubbed against his cat ears. Erza glanced at him, resisting the urge to squeal. It's no surprise the other girls acted the way they did. Jellal was too _adorable._

"Getting attached?" she smirked.

Jellal blushed, dropping his hand instantly. "N-No."

"Come on, let's go somewhere." She suddenly said, eyes mischievous. "I want to show you something."

Jellal cocked his head to the side, furrowing his brows in curiosity. She merely grinned and grabbed his wrist. A distant part at the back of her mind wondered why she didn't just grab his hand, but that thought was quickly squashed into oblivion.

Jellal glanced up at the evening sky as he was led through a forest. The forest in the evening was strangely pleasant. He could hear crickets chirping softly within the bushes, the sound of birds flapping their wings above his head and the soft  _whoosh_ sound of the wind against his skin.

"Erza?" he frowned as the redhead suddenly stopped.

She looked back at him and smiled, "Here we are."

He heard the running water before he could even looked. Erza strode forward carefully, settling down next to a small, yet sturdy tree with a downy crown of dark green leaves and nearly colourless pink flowers.

"Crabapple tree." Erza murmured, patting on the ground next to her. "They're in season."

He cautiously sat down next to her, following her gaze to the river. "Are we waiting for something?"

"Yes," Erza looked up with a positively vulpine smile on her face. "Just wait and see. They should be about here now."

"They?" he echoed, perplexed. Erza merely smiled enigmatically at him. He tried not to notice how her eyes glittered slightly in the evening light. He looked away quickly, swallowing with difficulty.

"There, they're here!" Erza suddenly hissed, grabbing his bicep excitedly.

He blinked as the first speck of light appeared. Then two, then three, and then suddenly there were dozens of them floating around him. Small dots of pale yellow lights fluttering around the two humans, casting their reflections on the river's water. It was as if he had just stepped into a dream.

"They are beautiful, aren't they?" Erza whispered, her voice hushed and breathless.

Jellal nodded dumbly, eyes following a pair that flitted around his ears and darted between Erza's hair. His mouth went dry when he noticed how the fireflies made her hair lit up and casted shadows over her awed face. She looked absolutely breathtaking.

He looked up when he felt something dropped down on his nose. He noticed the pink before it slid off his nose and landed on his lap.

"Crabapple tree flowers." Erza muttered. "We're lucky today."

 _Yes_ , Jellal thought,  _definitely lucky_. The pink petals spun gently in the air as they fell. He captured one in his hands and brought it to his lips. Was this how Erza's lips would taste, he wondered, if he kissed her?

"This flowers kind of looks like sakura flowers, don't they? I wonder if these flowers looked like the sakura that falls if the two had ever reunited with each other." Erza commented quietly, stretching her hand out. A pink petal landed gently on her palm.

When he gave her a curious look, she laughed and explained, "The promise between the retainer and the lady in the Tear of Lycoris. ' _We'll escape together. I will return to you the next time the sakura falls.'_  I wonder if they ever see each other again."

"I'm sure they did." Jellal murmured, although he doesn't quite understand what she's talking about. Erza looked up at him, eyes tender as she felt the warmth of his hand over hers.

"After all, the two loved each other, don't they?" he breathed, smiling against her lips. Her lips tasted better than the flower.

The both of them didn't even notice when his cat ears and tail dissolved and faded away like dust.

* * *

The expressions on Erza's guild mates would have been funny if he wasn't feeling so embarrassed.

"T-They're gone?" Cana pouted. He surreptitiously inched away from her. That was one woman he'd like to avoid. Cat ears or not, she looked at him like she wanted to devour him any moment.

"So that's why the crystal turned red last night." Makarov mused, holding up the Tear of Lycoris, who had returned to its gorgeous ruby red colour. "What did you do?"

He arched a brow in surprise when Jellal blushed furiously and looked down at his feet. Erza, face a similar red, coughed loudly to disguise her abashment.

"I see," Makarov laughed, a look of realization on his face. He waggled his brows at the couple, grin lecherous. "I didn't realize the spell could be broken like that! If it's like that, then the both of you should have done  _it_ sooner!"

Not a moment later, he was sent flying through the roof with the force of Erza's outraged punch, her face burning fire red. "It's not like that, Master!"

"So you're leaving now, Jellal?" Natsu asked, failing to hide his disappointment.

Jellal gave him a small, amused smile. "Yes, Ultear and Meredy are waiting for me at the station. They have finally traced down Ouroboros and well..."  _I really need to vent my frustration out on someone._ But he didn't say it out loud and merely shrugged.

"You'll visit, won't you?" Natsu demanded. "Because Erza obviously wants you here. I mean, I want you here too, but you get what I mean–"

He crashed into the bar counter. Gray paled and quickly fled before Erza could take out her anger on anyone else.

"That idiot Natsu, what is he..." she fumed, cheeks flushed with blood.

Jellal hid a small smile. Blushing Erza looked terribly cute, even if it clashed with her hair.

"And  _you_ ," she growled, turning to glare at him. "You'll look after yourself, won't you?"

His eyes softened and Erza had to resist the urge to kiss him right there and then. They came a long way to be together, and it pained her to have to let him go like this.

"I will." He smiled. "I promise."

Lucy turned away politely to give the couple a little privacy. She snatched Happy from the air, slapping a hand over his mouth to stop his annoying giggling.

"Don't push yourself." Erza murmured quietly, fingers lingering on his arm. When he stepped away, the skin on her fingertips were still warm with his heat.

" _Just what do you want, Erza?"_ Mirajane's voice whispered at the back of her mind.

She watched the morning sunlight painted his hair into a lighter shade of blue and quietly thought  _this, this is what I want. This is what I want to wake up to every morning._ In her head, she pleaded for him to stay, but outside, she remained silent. Because Jellal will come back, unlike the retainer in the story. And unlike the lady, she will not die waiting. Their story will end differently.

"Stay safe." Jellal whispered, brushing his knuckles across her cheek. His lips quirked up at her blush before he turned and left the guild.

"Jellal!" he glanced back to see Lucy scampering up to him. He had to hold back a chuckle when he realized how much she resembled an overly excited puppy.

"The story of the Tear of Lycoris... did Erza tell you about it?" the blonde panted.

He tilted his head, recalling back to last night. Sometime in the middle of the night, Erza had told him about what Levy had read from the book.

"Yeah, I think I understand what Lady Lycoris is trying to tell me. Although she really didn't have to use such a humiliating method..." He mumbled, smiling almost shyly. "Keep the crystal safe, Lucy."

He bowed politely before he left, leaving a bewildered and surprised Lucy gaping at his back. He glanced up as a pink petal fluttered past him.

_I hope that you and him are happy together, wherever you are right now, my lady._

**Author's Note:**

> There are legends that said that when a person sees someone that they may never meet again, lycorises, also called red spider lilies, would bloom along the path, thus the reason for the lady's name.


End file.
